SHEP's efforts for a garbage-free Mussoorie

UNI - August 5, 1998

MUSSOORIE: Effective garbage management at the individual as well as community level is the main thrust of the Self-Help Environment Programme (SHEP), a Mussoorie-based NGO which has been creating awareness about the need for waste management in this hill resort.

The SHEP, which works in association with the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), has been trying to make people aware of the harmful effects of using polythene. It has also explored alternative ways of reusing polythene bags. The organisation draws the attention of the authorities towards areas of neglect.

SHEP's operations are spread throughout the town but the main thrust of its activities has been along the Charleville Road upto the Happy Valley, from Kulri Bazaar upto ``Picture Palace'' and in the campus of the famous Woodstock School.

SHEP has rag-pickers under its wing who have been equipped with basic things like brooms, baskets, gumboots and sticks. Identity cards have also been given to these rag-pickers allowing them easier access to homes and hotels. SHEP also provides them with medical facilities and arranges transport for them to Dehra Dun to sell the dry waste collected by them. Polythene bags, paper, glass items, tins and other constituents of dry waste have a ready market in Dehra Dun. From selling these, SHEP gets the main part of its funds.

Careful Learning from Environment and Nature (Clean) is a self- financed NGO that has directed its efforts to a select area of Mussoorie by persuading residents, schools and hotels in that area to separate dry waste from the wet waste generated by them. The organisation has been operating in the Barlowganj, Jharipani and Dhobighat areas of Mussoorie.

Mr Vipin Kumar, who is running the SHEP, said effective waste management strategies had been successfully operationalised in Hampton Court School and Woodstock. All residents of the schools, the staff, their resident families and students have been sensitised and trained to discard dry and wet waste into different bins. Dry waste is given to the rag-pickers while pits have been dug in the schools for wet waste.

Ash and soil are thrown into these pits and they are then left to decompose. In about three to four months, manure is ready after the waste has decomposed.

The SHEP has been creating awareness through propagation of slogans like ``Say no to plastics'' and ``Save Mussoorie - you can do it''. Street campaigns, talks, processions, leaflets, posters and stickers have been widely used by this NGO in making the people of Mussoorie conscious of the urgent need to keep this town clean and green.

Households, institutions and commercial establishments have been asked by the SHEP to segregate waste generated by them. This involves collecting non-biodegradable waste separately and making it available to the local sweeper or SHEP rag-pickers in separate bags or containers.